Generational change in the Kyocera Unimerco Group executive board

Kyocera Cutting Tools

22 April 2013
- Neuss – As of 1 July this year, the current vice president of the Kyocera Unimerco Group, Mr. Senri Nagashima, will take over the position of CEO and president from Mr. Kenneth Iversen. Simultaneously, Mr. Anders Hegaard will take up the position of vice president of the Group. Anders Hegaard is currently the managing director of Kyocera Unimerco in Denmark and the UK, and will continue to hold these positions. The rest of the executive board and management of the Group in related companies will remain unchanged.

KYOCERA Unimerco Headquarters, Sunds

Today, the Kyocera Unimerco Group consists of 13 companies in Europe, USA and China, and is owned by the Japanese Kyocera Corporation through its European holding company Kyocera Fineceramics GmbH. There are currently 550 employees in the Kyocera Unimerco Group, and by 1 July, a further 35 employees from branches in Germany, France, Spain, Italy, Poland and Russia will be taken over from the European holding company Kyocera Fineceramics GmbH. The Kyocera Unimerco Group will then encompass all of the Kyocera Group’s tooling companies in Europe.

The management change has been under preparation for several years, and Iversen, who has been with the Group for 38 years, will resign by the end of June. At that time, he will be 65 years of age. When Kyocera acquired the Unimerco Group in July 2011, Iversen promised to continue as CEO and president for 2 years.

Senri Nagashima has a bachelor’s degree of business administration and has been working for the Kyocera Group since 1984 in Japan, Singapore and Thailand. Most recently, he has been working for seven years in Germany and for two years in the Kyocera Unimerco Group in Denmark. Senri Nagashima lives in Ikast, Denmark with his family.

Anders Hegaard, who has a diploma in international trade etc., has been with the Kyocera Unimerco Group since 2005. At first, he was group purchasing manager and later managing director for Denmark and the UK. Anders Hegaard lives in Sunds, Denmark with his family.

The integration of Unimerco into the Kyocera Group has been incredibly successful. It was clear from the start that management philosophies and human attitudes were very similar, and continuing the Unimerco business philosophy, a number of synergies have already been realised. For example, it is important for large industrial customers in the automotive and aerospace industries to have a reputable group behind them in relation to comprehensive project orders. When Kyocera Unimerco assumes control of the rest of Kyocera’s European tooling activities, its product range of cutting tools will become more complete, including: solid carbide tools, indexable tooling and geometric measuring tools.

The most important segments within the cutting tool market are automotive, aerospace, general machining, woodworking and food processing.

Beyond cutting tools, a separate division in the Kyocera Unimerco Group is active in fastening tools for construction, with significant market shares in Scandinavia and Germany.

The Group expects considerable growth in the coming years, supported by numerous large, international project orders, which have been confirmed over the last few months. Already this year and next year, there are plans to set up production in Japan, Poland and Germany. The Group currently has production in Denmark, UK, USA and China.